Palo flood victim makes emotional appeal

A couple whose home in Palo was severely damaged by floodwaters last June shared their story with state lawmakers this afternoon.

Scott and Sharon Murray urged lawmakers to provide more state assistance to families trying to rebuild. The Murrays received a Small Business Administration loan from the federal government, but they’ve earned too much to qualify for aid from the state’s "Jumpstart" program. "Part of our job is mandatory overtime in certain situations and that overtime actually made us unqualified for that Jumpstart money which then -now we’re going," Sharon Murray explained to reporters during a statehouse news conference, breaking down in tears, "we don’t know how we’re going to do it.)

Sharon Murray works for Aegon, but her Scott Murray works for Service Master and he worked lots of overtime cleaning homes and businesses in the area which were flooded. Murray says she and her husband need another $10,000 to finish the repair work on their home, but they are barely making ends meet because of the $350 a month they owe to repay that S.B.A. loan. "We’ve got to loosen those financial straps so we can breathe a little bit, but still complete our home so we can get on with our future," she says.

Statehouse leaders say they hope to introduce legislation by the end of the week that would loosen the eligibility requirements for the state assistance that’s set aside for flood victims.

The Murrays stayed in a hotel for 18 days with their two teenage children after high waters forced them from their home in Palo.